Make Medical Research a National Priority

Biomedical and health research fuels private sector innovation and the development of new therapies and devices to prevent and fight disease. Funding cuts threaten scientific discoveries that could lead to new therapies and potential cures for deadly disease.

In recent months, thought leaders in medical research have taken their message public to demonstrate the medical, economic and competitive advantages of government investment in research. We must reinforce the message to members of Congress during the recess before funding decisions are made.

Our goal is to continue to position research and innovation to improve health where it belongs: as a fundamental national priority that Americans can count on because their elected representatives rank it so highly.

We clearly have our work cut out for us on many fronts in order to protect medical research and innovation, including public funding for research. As you think about making the case for research, consider this: A majority of Americans say they would be willing to pay additional taxes — $1 more per week (amounting to approximately $4.4 billion) — if they knew those dollars were going to medical research. We need help getting this message out.

During the Memorial Day Congressional recess we are calling on research and patient advocates to contact your representatives and tell them to support funding for research. We are urging Congress to protect funding that will help combat disease and spur private sector innovation.

Join us in sending a strong message to your representatives about the importance of medical and health research in your hometown. Basic research lays the foundation for private sector development of new medical treatments. Policymakers should not endanger private sector contributions to our nation’s unrivaled research enterprise. If we divest from medical innovation, we are setting the stage for a declining economy. We need CURES, not CUTS!

In our social media campaign, each day of the recess has a specific theme that can be customized with your information and patient/researcher stories. We have made it easy to get involved, visit our home page to learn about the campaign and much more.

One Response to Make Medical Research a National Priority

As a family physician with a wife living with ovarian cancer, I totally agree that good medical research is badly needed. In exchange researchers need to make their research tranaparent, have data and results be available to others to examine, use and add further research to, instead of having silos of pripriatary data that slows progress.